At the 12th fret

Hi guys
A proper question this time .. really how important is it to have the same open tuning at the 12th . On my pono bari tuned DGBE when I test the notes at the 12th my D is a tad sharp, G is spot on ,B two marks flat and the E is tad sharp the set up is good for me but inotation a bit out .
Fretting up the neck some fret notes are good while other are sharp just a little.
Do you think I am being too OCD ? or just let it flow the way it is .
Cheers. I am happy the way it sounds though.....

How important ? Up to you really how much is too much. 10 cents or so is not uncommon in my experience even for very nice ukes. It does seem odd you're getting such a mix. New or different strings might help (or might not)

I don't think you're being too OCD, that's exactly why a lot of electric guitars have six individually adjustable saddles, so's each string can be spot-on. A lot of guitarists spend a lot of time up around and beyond the 12th fret ... being in tune over the length of the neck is quite important to them.

It's an unfortunate case of the physics of the situation requiring some compromise. In setting up any fretted instrument that has a non-adjustable bridge there will be some give-and-take. A compensated saddle can help, but the degree of compensation needed can vary between string sets. It really is up to the player to decide how "perfect" they want to be and invest appropriately ... this may involve buying several sets of strings and filing up a few saddles until the most favoured compromise is reached

Thanks jim and kypfer for reasurrance I suppose being a tad out at the 12 is not too much of a problem I just needed confirmation on that ,I dont play much at the 12 I just wanted my uku to be the best it can even though my playing is not up to standard yet, the journey is good though..
Cheers guys

Thanks bill nope still the same but was wondering if I should adjust the truss rod a tad but I really dont want to mess with it too much
Cheers

I recently saw a video of Jake S. making his own compensated saddle in the recording studio. All it takes is a file and a lot of patience. I guess you can be as OCD as you want about these things.

Personally, I'll worry more about intonation when I can play up the neck and stay in time.

pluck said:

Personally, I'll worry more about intonation when I can play up the neck and stay in time.

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Like it :biglaugh:

franky,b asked:

... was wondering if I should adjust the truss rod a tad but I really dont want to mess with it too much

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You can easily check if the truss rod needs adjusting ... fret one string at the first fret AND at the twelfth (or as high as your instrument goes). If there's much gap between the string and the fret-wire at the 6th fret or thereabouts then the truss-rod may need a tweak.

Slacken all the strings slightly (maybe half a note or one fret), give the truss rod adjuster no more than one quarter turn clockwise and re-check. If necessary, another quarter turn and recheck. Keep an ear on the pitch of the strings, you don't want them to go above normal tuning, else when you re-tune they may start to buzz as the neck relaxes.

Remember, you're just trying to compensate for any bend in the neck that maybe over and above any other high-action issues you may have.

Take it slowly and you shouldn't have a problem. If the truss rod adjuster seems too tight to adjust safely, leave it alone. It's not unknown for the adjuster to seize then snap off when "encouraged". Do make sure that any key or spanner that you need to use is a good fit and properly seated.

Good luck

Thanks kypfer just checked that, everthing seems ok to be honest, im going to get some medicine for my Ocd I think . Thanks everyone for the feed back, very helpful....

franky said:

... im going to get some medicine for my Ocd I think .

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Don't worry about OCD, it's only those who don't have it that have a problem with it, for the rest of us it's normal

kypfer said:

You can easily check if the truss rod needs adjusting ... fret one string at the first fret AND at the twelfth (or as high as your instrument goes). If there's much gap between the string and the fret-wire at the 6th fret or thereabouts then the truss-rod may need a tweak.

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Thank you so much!
This is one of those questions I've been meaning to ask for a while.
Whenever I learn something new it's a good day

photoshooter said:

Thank you so much!
This is one of those questions I've been meaning to ask for a while.
Whenever I learn something new it's a good day

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You're very welcome